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GRAND DESIGNS
Peterborough Revisited
Five years ago, John and Terri Westlake built a timber box that even they weren't sure about on the edge of a forest in the middle of open countryside.
Now Kevin's back to see whether they've warmed to the design, and what life is like living the modernist dream in splendid rural isolation.
John and Terri Westlake never intended to self build. They were looking to buy a house near Peterborough when they came across a tumbledown cottage backing onto woodland, with great views across open countryside.
They immediately fell in love with the location, despite the cottage being ill-suited to their needs as a family. So they decided to knock down the cottage, and in its place build a contemporary wooden box, with one wall entirely of glass, to take advantage of the fantastic views.
But John and Terri had a problem: having found and bought a building plot, they didn't have enough money to build a house. They decided to take a huge risk and borrow against the value of the finished house. What's more, they would live on next to nothing, pouring all their precious earnings into the build.
Due to the usual delays, the build took five months longer than they had hoped, and just as they were about to finally move into their modest box of a home, Terri discovered she was pregnant. Lovely as the house was, it was clearly not going to be big enough.
Five years on, Kevin McCloud goes back to see how the Westlakes are coping with compact living and discovers they have expanded. Their clever extension has transformed their rigid wooden box into a flexible and supple living space.
